


The Return: Darkness Rising

by speedrhino



Series: The Return [2]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Betrayal, Emotional Conflict, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-08
Updated: 2015-03-10
Packaged: 2018-03-06 15:57:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 16,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3140132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/speedrhino/pseuds/speedrhino
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ruby Rose has come back from supposedly being dead for ten years. However a lot can change in that amount of time and is the world truly ready to bring back a dead hero?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I am rather surprised. I was not expecting such positive feedback from The Return. However with enough requests I have now started The Return series. I hope that you all enjoy this and I hope not to disappoint you guys. If you have any questions, constructive criticism, or ideas, send me a message over kik @ speedrhino or just in the comments. If you send a message please make sure to mention you are from AO3. I also apologize for the short chapter, however I promise the chapters will get longer as the story goes on. Now without further ado please enjoy.

Yang woke up in the morning still in agonizing pain three days after she was saved by Ruby from being eaten by beowolves. The remains of team RWBY were overjoyed to see their team leader after ten years. However they all saw what happened to Ruby and they knew that she couldn't have possible survived on her own. The day went on and Ruby continued to help them recover from their injuries.

"Is anyone else wondering what I am?" Blake asked as Ruby left the room to get everyone some more water and painkillers? Weiss was the first to answer, "You mean how is Ruby possibly alive right?" Blake nodded her head before speaking again. "It doesn't make any sense. We saw what happened; she was stabbed through the stomach by a Death Stalker. Even when we killed it and got to her to check her vitals, she had no pulse or heartbeat whatsoever," Blake said. Everyone in the room sighed in frustration from not being able to figure out how Ruby survived.

However their silence and thoughts were broken as Ruby entered the room again. "Here you go everyone, more water and painkillers to go around," Ruby said happily before Ruby turned around to the sound of her scroll ringing. 

"Excuse me for a second everyone, I'll be right back," Ruby said walking out of the room quickly and closing their door causing an eyebrow raise from Blake. It was the first time Ruby had closed the door in three days for anything. Blake shrugged it off though assuming Ruby just wanted to answer the call without talking in front of everyone. 

\-----------------------

Ruby closed the door and grabbed her scroll. She answered knowing that only one person had the number of her newly acquired scroll. "What do you want now?" Ruby asked a bit frustrated. The voice on the other line came back in a rather calm and soothing tone. "I just want to know why my little jewel is three days late even after sending me a message saying she found what we needed," The voice said. 

Ruby sighed a looked at her bag on the floor at the door. She then began to speak again back to the caller. "Listen, I told you I already got the dust. I will bring it to you when I am not so preoccupied," Ruby said. The voice simply chuckled before speaking again. "You shouldn't have saved them Ruby, they will only get in your way now," the voice said. Ruby looked at the closed door and sighed again. "I know, but I just couldn't let my sister die." Ruby said. 

"I understand, but just make sure you remember whose side your on now Ruby," the voice said obviously done with the call. "I understand, I won't let them stop me. I will see you in a couple of days Cinder," Ruby said. Cinder let out a soft laugh, "Hurry back my little jewel. It is lonely without you," she said and then ended the call.

Ruby put her scroll down and entered the room where her team was staying. They had already taken the painkillers and were watching as Ruby entered the room. "Who was it sis?" Yang asked. Ruby put on a smile as she looked at Yang before answering having practiced the art of lying in her time working for the White Fang. "It was just a friend of mine I met out here," Ruby told her sister.

Blake then spoke as she had a few questions for Ruby. "Tell us Ruby, how did you manage to survive that day?" Blake asked. Ruby looked at her before answering with another lie. "Too be honest, I don't know, I just woke up in pain inside a nice house with a man who was helping me rest. I stayed there for about two weeks before finally getting better and then I started traveling the world solving problems for," Ruby said. Blake nodded and then asked her last question, "Why didn't you come back?" Ruby tilted her head and put her chin in her hand thinking as she answered, "I was afraid of returning I guess," which caused Blake to nod her head and close her eyes going back to sleep. 

Ruby waved to Weiss and Blake and said she needed to get groceries. She took the bag with the crystal Cinder wanted and headed to town. When she got there she sent a message to Mercury telling him where she was. When Mercury finally arrived Ruby gave him the dust crystal. "What are my next orders." 

Mercury looked at the dust crystal before answering. "You're going to kill Ozpin for us," he said.


	2. Recovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby gets her new assignment from Cinder. However how can she possibly take on the best huntsmen in the world.

Ruby's eyes were wide even almost two hours after hearing her new mission. She was suppose to kill Ozpin. Ruby was beginning to wonder if Cinder was insane. Ruby never even finished her formal training as a huntress, how was she suppose to take on Ozpin of all people. Ruby took in a deep breath to calm herself. She had walked to the place where she had killed the beowolves to save her former team. She looked around and waited for more Grimm to come after her so she could get some more practice with her techniques. 

After a couple of minutes the grimm started coming out of the forest sensing new prey for them to feed on. The beowolves charged at Ruby who quickly dodged the attack and grabbed Crescent Rose keeping it in its sniper form as she held the barrel right against the beowolf's chin and pulled the trigger. If it wasn't for the fact that Ruby had the ability to change her enemies blood into Rose petals she would have definitely been covered in blood at that point. The beowolves head left it's body from the sheer force of the bullet going through it's head.

Ruby then switched Crescent Rose to its scythe form and charged at the beowolves that remained. She reached the closet one which she proceeded to cut its left arm off causing it to howl in pain. Ruby quickly ended its suffering though but cutting off the beowolf's head entirely. Ruby was scanning the field with almost emotionless eyes know. In her time with Cinder Ruby was taught to never show emotion in a fight because it makes it easy for people to read what you're doing. Ruby began to simply walk forward at the remaining beowolves who now hesitated to charge.

However they finally charged at the girl who had just killed two of their pack mates. Ruby ended the fight quickly as she killed the beowolves in simply movements. She sighed and put Crescent Rose away. "This is too easy now," Ruby said as she looked at her handy work.

She started to head back to her house ton check on her old team. When she arrived she opened their door and found all of them were asleep again. Cinder's words wrung through her head. She didn't want to kill her old team, not until she had to. Then she had an idea to get close to Vale, and even better, close to Ozpin. If she arrived in town she would have to answer the questions of everyone that thought she was dead. However if she came back with Team RWBY then she could have them answer for her while she went to talk to Ozpin alone. It was almost foolproof if it wasn't for the fact that Ozpin was incredibly smart and would figure out her intentions almost as soon as she walked in Beacon. Ruby let out a sigh and left the room.

She entered her room and started to remove her clothing. Once she was naked she entered her bathroom and turned on the shower waiting for it to get warm. Right now she only had the plan she just made to get close to Ozpin. She entered the shower feeling almost blissful as the hot water ran down her back. Once she was finished she got on a simple shirt and jeans and through her combat skirt into the washer to let it wash.

She entered the room where her team was staying to find that Yang was awake and just ending a call on her scroll. "'Who was that?" Ruby asked curiously. Yang looked up and smiled, "Just Ozpin, he was wondering where we were so I told him." It took Ruby almost everything she had not to cringe at the mention of her new target's name. She continued to smile though even while she cursed that she lost the element of surprise.

\--------------------

The week passed by rather quickly and Team RWBY's injuries had recovered nicely. Ruby had changed into her combat skirt as she prepared to head towards Vale with her old team. She sent Cinder a message telling her her plan to which Cinder sent back her response. Ruby was told that the minute Ozpin was dead to send a message saying so and an airship would be there to pick her up ASAP.

Team RWBY began to head to Vale all the while Ruby knowing she was going to have to betray her old friends. Ruby let out a soft sigh that no one heard as she looked around. She looked at her sister and had only one last thought before she was able to let go. "I'm sorry," was that only thought. With that she let go of her old team and the memories they shared so she wouldn't be hurt when they finally saw who her allegiance was with now. She was ready to kill Ozpin.

 

\--------------------

Ozpin took another sip of his coffer as he watched the city of Vale out of his office's window. He was pondering what Yang had told him. Ruby was alive and well if not better than ever before. Ozpin considered the facts he had just been presented. Ruby had been considered dead ten years ago, however it turned out that wasn't true and she just refused to call anyone because she was afraid of going back? That didn't make any sense to Ozpin whatsoever. It didn't fit into Ruby's profile. Her personality was the complete opposite of that. He put down his mug before speaking aloud to himself. "So this is your hand Cinder?"

He picked up his scroll and sent a call to Goodwitch. "Hello Glynda, I have a request for you. Could you send Mr. Arc to my office, me and him have toi have a little chat." He was assured it would happen and then picked his mug back up and waited for Jaune to arrive. 

When he finally did arrive, Jaune was curious why he was called. "You called sir?" Jaune asked. Ozpin turned around to look at Jaune. Jaune had received much training from Pyrrha and from his time at Beacon all together. Ozpin was proud and quite impressed of Jaune's ability with a sword now. Jaune was now one of the best sword artists Vale had to offer. "Yes Jaune I did. It appears an old friend ours isn't dead," Ozpin said. Jaune had only one friend that had died in his time as a huntsmen. "Ruby," Jaune muttered to himself. "That is correct Jaune, however after ten years of being dead, I am a bit wary to trust her." Jaune was a bit annoyed that Ozpin didn't trust Ruby of all people. He realized however that in all his time working for Ozpin, he had never been wrong. "You really think she is a threat?" Jaune asked. Ozpin nodded his head and Jaune. "I'm here as your personal guard aren't I?" Jaune asked. Ozpin nodded once more and Jaune understood. He walked out of Ozpin's office and went home to prepare Crocea Mors. He would defend Ozpin no matter the cost.

\--------------------  
Emerald walked into Cinder's room where Cinder was getting through a call with Roman. "The minute she sends me the signal we are going to have an airship waiting right outside of Vale to pick her up, got it? Good." Cinder hung up after a few minutes and turned to look at Emerald. "What is it Emerald?" Cinder asked. Emerald hesitated before she spoke, "Are you sure that Ruby can handle Ozpin by herself?" 

Cinder let out a soft chuckle before looking Emerald in the eyes. "Yes I do, I have seen the way she fights and I know that the longer she fights the fiercer she gets," Cinder told Emerald. Emerald nodded and left the room leaving Cinder alone again. Cinder locked her door and removed her dress as she started a bath. She got in the water and closed her eyes thinking. "Besides, I won't let my little jewel die," Cinder said to herself.


	3. Home Sweet Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby returns to Beacon after being gone for ten years.

It had been a long and tiring trip for Ruby as her and her old team traveled back to Vale. However they finally made it and were right at the front gate. The guards were more than surprised to see Ruby Rose alive again. Ruby gave them her best fake smile and continued on with her own plan. She was here to kill Ozpin; not to have a trip down memory lane with all of her old friends. 

They got past the gate and headed into town. Blake had been watching Ruby the whole time they had been traveling to Beacon. She noticed the way she was acting. Ruby had changed over the last ten years, but no one should have changed like Ruby had. Instead of being the carefree girl that liked to rush into situations; it seemed like Ruby was worried abut something, and was taking the time to examine and calculate. What Blake couldn't figure out though was what Ruby was calculating. The look on Ruby's face definitely said she was planning something though and Blake was determined to figure out what it was.

"Hey Yang, you go on ahead with Ruby, I need to talk to Weiss!" Blake said. Yang nodded and continued to walk with Ruby. Blake grabbed Weiss and dragged her along so that they had a private place to talk; all while Weiss was giving her usual, "Heys!" and "Let go!" Blake finally let go and looked Weiss dead in the eye. 

"Isn't Ruby acting a bit odd to you?" Blake asked Weiss causing Weiss to raise an eyebrow at the Faunus. "Ruby has always been odd Blake," was Weiss response. Blake sighed before speaking again, "I mean odder than usual. I can understand her changing and maturing a bit but not like she has. She looks like she is planning something and I want to know what." Weiss looked at Blake a bit concerned. "Blake, there is no way that Ruby would be doing anything wrong, she is too kind," Weiss said. Blake shook her head and looked at Weiss with even more determination almost scaring Weiss. "Weiss, I'm not saying she is doing something wrong, she might be I don't know. All that matters is she is hiding something from us," 

\------------------

Yang was walking up the street and was confused by the silence from Ruby. When she turned around however, Ruby was completely gone. She looked everywhere around her but couldn't find Ruby. Yang took her scroll out and sent a call to Blake immediately. When Blake picked up, before Blake could even say anything Yang was already speaking. "Ruby is gone and I don't know where she is!" Yang explained the situation and the team split up to look for her. 

However Ruby was watching from a rooftop making sure to stay out of sight from her sister. She took out her scroll and sent a call to Cinder. "I'm in Vale and out of sight. I am on my way to Ozpin now," Ruby said. "Good, make sure to stay alive got it Ruby?" Cinder asked. "Of course I will, I still have to pay you back for everything." Ruby said smiling a bit. The two hung up and Ruby started to head for Beacon making sure to stay out of sight.

-Flashback-

"Ruby!" Yang screamed as the Death Stalker stabbed Ruby through her stomach. Ruby coughed up blood and was then thrown to the side slamming into a tree. When the team finally killed the death stalker it was too late. Ruby was dead; her pulse was gone and her heart had stopped. Ruby's team had all started to cry together. They grabbed a nearby rose and put it in her hand's. That night Ruby's team left her assuming she had died.

Cinder however took the opportunity to her advantage. She was standing over Ruby's body smiling. "Now who would leave such a valuable thing behind?" Cinder asked as she grabbed Ruby's body and brought her back to the White Fang base. "Emerald! Mercury! Bring me some thing to restart this girl's heart!" Cinder ordered as Mercury and Emerald were surprised to see Cinder carrying there old enemy in their base. 

They did as ordered however bringing different types of tools and dust, and after several hours and failed attempts, Ruby let out a cough and opened her eyes looking around. She saw Cinder and her eyes went wide, but she couldn't move from a sudden pain in her stomach. 

"Relax Ruby, we aren't going to hurt you, if we were going to do that then there wouldn't have been a reason to revive you." Cinder said calmly. Ruby looked at her with a surprise look in her eyes. "What do you mean revived?" Ruby asked weakly. Cinder smiled down at her before speaking, "I mean we brought you back to life. I found you lying dead on the ground with a hole caused by a Death Stalker in your stomach. I brought you here and revived you." Ruby closed her eyes and sighed before opening her eyes again. "Why did you help me?" Ruby asked. Cinder let a small smirk strike her lips. "I was hoping that now you would listen to why I am trying to destroy the kingdoms," Cinder said. 

Ruby looked at Cinder and realizing she couldn't do anything else said, "I'm listening."

-Present Day-

Ruby jumped from the rooftop she was on and ran directly into the courtyard of Beacon. She looked around as she slowed down and walked through the old schoolyard. She smiled at the memories and then looked up at the window of Beacon's highest tower knowing that Ozpin was watching her. She started to head right for the tower. However right before she could even touch the door she heard a familiar voice.

"Ruby!" Jaune said with Crocea Mors at his side and a strong look on his face. Ruby stayed silent with her back turned towards Jaune. "Turn around Ruby, we need to talk." Jaune said. Ruby turned around with a smirk on her lips, "Since when were you such a commander?" she asked. Jaune didn't answer her, instead he asked her his own question. "Ruby, please tell me, are you working with the White Fang?" Ruby tilted her head trying to act cute. "Why would I work with the White Fang Jaune, I fought them all the time while I was here." 

Jaune was unswayed by her which caused her face to drop to one of disappointment. "So how did you figure it out?" Ruby asked. Jaune looked up at Ozpin's window and back to Ruby making her understand immediately. "Figured as much, he was always smart," Ruby said. "Jaune, don't get in my way, I don't want to hurt you." Ruby spoke up as she reached back and prepared to draw Crescent Rose. Jaune drew Crocea Mors and looked at Ruby with a determined look and said, "I can't do that Ruby, but you can walk away from the White Fang now! Come back to Vale and help the people." 

Ruby looked down and let out a soft chuckle as she shook her head. "I can't do that Jaune, we misunderstand the White Fang, what they are fighting for is right, all the kingdoms of Remnant are is corrupt and only cares about themselves. She drew Crescent Rose and prepared to fight. Jaune sighed and tried one last thing. "Ruby! Please! the White Fang is evil! They are trying to kill everyone that isn't one of theirs!" 

Ruby's eyes became emotionless which caused Jaune to be a bit perturbed. "I'm done talking Jaune! If you don't want me to get near Ozpin then you are to have to kill me!" Ruby said as she charged at Jaune and swung Crescent Rose as hard as she could at Jaune's right leg trying to cut it off. She was got off guard though when Jaune parried her and swung his own sword at Ruby's waist. Ruby blocked it and shot Crescent Rose at Jaune's knee trying to hit him. However Jaune expected this and jumped out of the way as the bullet went into the ground. 

Both fighters entered a defensive stance and watched the other. "Aren't you full of surprises, when did you become such a skilled sword fighter?" Ruby asked still without emotion. Jaune smirked and answered, "I learned from Pyrrha and my time at Beacon. Both stayed silent for a bit longer waiting for the other to make a move before Jaune spoke again. "Get ready Ruby, it's time to end this!" he said as he began to charge at Ruby.


	4. Ruby Versus Jaune

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby and Jaune duel in the coiurtyard of Beacon academy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know why but for some reason I couldn't get the final paragraph to spilt up like I wanted it to, so unfortunately it ended up being just one giant paragraph. I apologize for this and hope that it doesn't happen again.

"Where could she possibly be?" Blake asked to herself still unable to find Ruby. It was almost as if Ruby hid all of her tracks in preparation for this. Blake continued to look around until she heard a gun shot. To be specific it was the sound of Crescent Rose being fired. She looked in the direction of Beacon which was miles away from her. She thanked her hearing which was better than most humans since she was a cat, but she swore at the fact it was all the way at Beacon. 

Blake called Yang on her scroll and told Yang where Ruby was. She then did the same and started to move as fast as she could to get to Beacon before anything happened that would devastate Vale. She ran as fast as she could but knew it would take her awhile to get Beacon. She had no idea how close Yang and Weiss were but she had to assume they were also miles away. 

\--------------------

Ruby blocked Jaune as he charged and realized immediately what Jaune was trying to do. He was trying to take away Ruby's reach advantage by closing the cgap. She smirked and then kicked Jaune in the chest causing him to grunt and fall back a little bit. Ruby quickly fired a round to speed away from Jaune making a great gap for Jaune to cross. She started to fire round after round at Jaune, but Jaune expected this and quickly threw his shield in front of him blocking the bullets as he started charging at her again.

Ruby picked up on his strategy and quickly shot another round this time heading right for him. She slammed the blade part of Crescent Rose right into Jaune's shield using the momentum to vault over Jaune's head and kicked him in the back making him wince and grunt a bit. He turned around and swung his sword at Ruby's head. However she ducked underneath the swing, luckily for Jaune though he planned this and kicked her in the side of the head causing her to wince and roll away from Jaune.

When she stood up she felt at her cheek and was immediately annoyed at the pain in her cheek. She prepared another defensive stance as Jaune started yet another charge. He tried to thrust his sword into Ruby's stomach but failed as she quickly dodged and did a quick spin slashing low at Jaune's leg. Unfortunately, Jaune was still recovering from the lunge he had done and Ruby's attack hit the back of his leg causing him to hit one knee. 

Jaune tried to stand up, but found it was impossible. Ruby has sliced the tendons in Jaune's leg. Blood flowed down his leg and the bone was visible. Jaune winced a bit at the pain that kept getting worse as the adrenline left his body. However when he looked at Ruby who was slowly walking towards him, the adrenaline came right back and he forgot about the pain. He rose Crocea Mors and prepared to defend himself. 

However, Ruby knew she had won. She could keep her distance and just keep swinging while all Jaune could do was block and pray he survived. Ruby did just that though and continued to swing at Jaune trying to disarm him. He had a firm grip on his sword though and he continued to block each strike that Ruby delivered. 

Jaune recognized that he had lost but continued to fight anyway. He refused to die which was starting to annoy Ruby. Ruby stepped back and changed Crescent Rose to its sniper form. Jaune's eyes went wide and he reached for his shield. It was too late though. Ruby's sniper shot and went directly through Jaune's arm making it fall at his side and causing him to scream out in pain. The hole in Jaune's arm was starting to bleed immediately. Drops of blood started to land around Jaune's feet. 

He looked at Ruby and Ruby saw the obvious pain that Jaune was suffering. "I told you to just leave and let me do what I have to do, but you insisted and I can't let you leave," Ruby said. Jaune closed his eyes before speaking, "Ruby! Please! Don't-" another shot rang out and entered Jaune's chest. He screamed out in pain as he fell back and somehow managed to survive. Ruby was surprised at his survival and walked up to Jaune. She stepped on his arm that hadn't been shot so he couldn't move Crocea Mors and aimed at Jaune's head. 

"I'm sorry Jaune." was all she said. "If you were sorry you wouldn't be doing this Ruby," was his response. She closed her eyes and pulled the trigger. Only opening them after the ringing from the round stopped. 

Ruby then looked up at the window and started to head for the tower again. She opened the door and stepped into the elevator hitting the button that led to Ozpin's office. The doors opened and she started walking with Crescent Rose drawn. She aimed at Ozpin's doors and fire the remaining rounds from the clip trying to at least hit Ozpin once. She opened the door after reloading her weapon and Ozpin was standing right where the bullets went but they were at his feet obviously blocked. "Hello Ruby, It's been awhile since we last talked." Ozpin said. Ruby smirked slightly before speaking, "You know why I am here right?" Ruby said. Ozpin nodded without saying anything. "Then draw your weapon," Ruby demanded. Ozpin simply continued to stare at Ruby with that same smile, but lifted his cane grabbing the end of it and unsheathed a longsword. "You're mother had high hopes for you Ruby, too bad you turned to Cinder," Ozpin chastised. Ruby ignored the comment and rushed at Ozpin at full speed colliding her weapon against Ozpin's sword with a loud clang. With that, the battle had finally begun. Blake was still about a mile away from Beacon, and she had heard every shot that Ruby had let fly. However the shooting stopped and Blake became even more concerned. Her scroll started to ring and when she looked it was Yang's voice that answered. "Blake, this is bad," she said. Blake knew that when Yang said something was bad it meant that it was actually horrible. "What is it?" Blake asked concerned. Yang hesitated, but answered,"It's Jaune, he's dead. He has three bullet holes in him. Ruby killed him." Blake swore under her breath. "Yang wait for me, do not attack Ruby alone!" Blake demanded. She hung up and continued to run directly for Beacon. "Ruby, you betrayed us. I'm going to make sure you pay." Blake promised to herself.


	5. Teacher versus Student

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby and Ozpin battle on the top of Beacon's tower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jesus this chapter took awhile. I just hope I displayed Ozpin correctly in this fight because I would like this to actually show Ozpin's skill. I hope you guys enjoy.

Ruby and Ozpin continued to collide weapons again and again. Neither was making any real progress in breaking each other's defense. Whenever Ruby would attack, Ozpin would block or dodge with speed that caught Ruby off guard. Whenever Ozpin would attack Ruby would simply block, counter or dodge as well. 

Both of the combatants continued this cycle for almost ten minutes. However Ruby knew that someone would be coming eventually and she needed to finish the fight immediately. She aimed Crescent Rose behind her and fired going at full speed driving her shoulder into Ozpin at almost forty miles per hour. Ozpin gasped and winced a bit not expecting the hit but managed to recover in time to parry the strike that Ruby sent towards her leg, and then kicked her in the stomach causing her gasp as well and be knocked back. 

The two warriors caught their breath and Ruby smiled. "I haven't had a challenge since I joined the White Fang, I'm glad you were able to provide this great a challenge," Ruby said calmly with her emotionless, and calculating eyes. Ozpin smirked and rose his long sword aiming the point at Ruby. "I am also quite proud of how well you have done, but it is time for me to end this," Ozpin said as he pressed a button on the side of his hilt and the sword quickly turned into a simple shotgun. Ruby's eyes went wide and she prepared to defend herself knowing there was no possible way she was going to be able dodge. 

Ozpin fired shell after shell and Ruby continue to spin her scythe blocking as many of the shells as possible. Ozpin ran out after about sixteen and Ruby charged as fast as she could swinging at every possible thing she could hit at Ozpin. However he kept dodging and using his shotgun to block Ruby's strikes. Ozpin punched Ruby across the jaw causing her to wince and lose her balance. Ozpin turned his weapon back into the blade portion of it and began swinging taking the offensive. Ruby recovered quickly and started to block every attack Ozpin used. 

Ruby began to fall back into the hallway. She took a swing at Ozpin's legs making him fall back as she took Crescent Rose and shot a nearby door open revealing a staircase going up. She ran to the staircase turning around when she saw Ozpin running up behind her. The clashed weapons again and again as the two combatants started to go up the long staircase. Ozpin taking low swings which Ruby blocked, and Ruby swinging high swings which Ozpin blocked. As they reached the top of the stairs, Ruby ducked and rolled underneath Ozpin's arm and kicked him in the back with all her strength. Ozpin was caught off guard and was pushed rather far as he slammed into the door at the top of the stairs and rolled onto the roof of Beacon.

She walked out onto the rooftop's slowly and the wind had picked up since her last fight with Jaune just about half an hour ago. Her hair was blowing a bit as she aimed at Ozpin who was still trying to stand up and recover from the blow he just took. She pulled the trigger of Crescent Rose and fired round after round. Ozpin was able to block most of the rounds but winced as one of the bullets entered into his lower leg near the shin. 

Ozpin stood and looked at Ruby letting his aura heal the wound that Ruby had inflicted. "I must admit you are proving more difficult than I was expecting," Ozpin said as he started to walk towards Ruby. Ruby remained quiet and walked towards Ozpin at the same rate until the were both at each other and started to swing their weapons again. Their weapons clashed again and again as both combatants were still even in terms of their condition. 

Ruby was then uppercut in the jaw which stunned her and then Ozpin stabbed her through the stomach causing her to cough up a bit of blood and gasp at the sudden pain. Ozpin removed his sword and kicked Ruby in the stomach causing her to get knocked back and land on her back, her vision fading in and out. "Like I said though, it was time to end our little fight," Ozpin said. Ruby looked up at Ozpin with still emotionless eyes. "Then finish me already," she said.

Ozpin sighed and changed his sword back into a shotgun and walked towards Ruby. "You had such high potential. I thought you were going to be the one that would save this world. Apparently I was wrong. I had high hopes for you," He was now standing right in front of Ruby, "Your mother had high hopes for you." Ruby smirked and looked up at him, "Don't chastise me, and also one more thing. I had such high hopes for you," she said as her aura healed her wounds without Ozpin noticing.

\-----------------

Blake, Yang, and Weiss were all standing at Beacon's courtyard with tears in their eyes as they looked down at the remains of their old friend. The three holes caused by Crescent Rose were still visible. "I can't believe she did this," Yang said in disbelief at Ruby's actions. "Well believe it Yang, Ruby has betrayed us," Blake said as she started to run into the tower with Yang and Weiss following her. 

They stepped into the elevator and almost slammed the button that led to Ozpin's office."Are we sure we can handle her, hell are we even sure we can kill her? She is one of our best friends!" Weiss asked. Blake looked her dead in the eyes, "I will kill her for betraying us! I have no problem killing my friends to protect the innocent." Weiss nodded in understanding. 

The elevator opened up and they found that Ozpin's doors had been kicked open. They entered the office and looked around not seeing either of the two people. "Ozpin?" Blake asked knowing that she wasn't going to get an answer. Weiss looked down the hall and saw the door that had been shot open. "Blake, I think they went to the roof!" Weiss said. Blake looked down the hall and started running at full speed up the stairs with her teammates behind her. 

When they got to the top of the stairs they gasped and their eyes went wide. 

\-----------------

Ruby was standing and was putting her scroll back in her pocket. She turned around to see her former teammates standing behind her. She smiled softly and then stepped to the side showing the corpse of Ozpin. There was a bullet entrance wound in his chin and an exit wound in the back of his head. There was blood starting to flow from the wounds and Blake looked at Ruby with nothing but anger and hate in her eyes. "Ruby! How could you just betray us all like this?" Blake asked.

Ruby tilted her head and remained silent for a minute before answering, "Because the ideals of the kingdoms of Remnant are nothing but corrupt. Cinder opened my eyes to this. I realized now that the only way the world can get better is if the kingdoms fall." Blake's eyes went wide at the mention of Cinder's name. "Ruby, you're with the White Fang! How could you! All they want to do is harm innocent people, how is that justice?" Blake asked. "Because all the leaders of Remnant do is hide behind their walls and let people they consider expendable die to protect the people they abuse. While people are dying, the kings are doing nothing but stuffing their faces and looking out for themselves!" Ruby said anger beginning to fill her voice.

Blake remained silent as she looked at Ruby and then drew Gambol Shroud. "I can see that reasoning is out of the option at this point, so I will just have to kill you," Blake said. Ruby looked up and smile as she turned around, her back to her former team, "I doubt that right now." At that moment an aircraft came flying at full speed with the nose facing Blake, Yang, and Weiss and the guns on the front began to spin up as the side door opened and Cinder motioned for Ruby. "Hurry up and get on Ruby!" Cinder ordered. Ruby ran onto the aircraft as the guns started to shoot while team RWBY ran inside the door and used the walls for cover as Blake changed Gambol Shroud to it's pistol form.

However when she aimed out of the door the aircraft had already flown away and the remains of team RWBY watched as the aircraft left. "What do we do now?" Weiss asked. Blake stood there silently. "We hunt her down and kill her for her betrayal," Blake said after a moment of silence.


	6. The Burial

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The people of Vale mourn Ruby's two victims.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: There is a rather adult ending to this chapter. If you do not wish to read it then it is skip-able. It is only three paragraphs long, so it isn't very long anyway. Also I hope that you are all enjoying the story. I plan on ketting this story go on to be at least a trilogy along with the prologue chapter that I wrote for this. If you have any questions you want to ask, or want to have a private chat just kik me @speedrhino.

Blake, Yang, and Weiss all prepared themselves for today. It wasn't a day of happiness, but instead a day to mourn the two people that they had failed to reach in time. Not a word was spoken between the three as they got into their black dresses to head to the funeral for Jaune and Ozpin. They left their weapons at their team base knowing that they wouldn't need them. They finished preparing for the burial.

"You know Yang, I think this is the first time you have ever been speechless for so long," Blake sound trying to break the silence. Yang let out a small smile that was filled with sorrow. "That is because this is the first time we ever failed to stop someone from hurting the people close to us," Yang said. Blake almost wanted to scream remembering the look on Ruby's face as they found her after killing Ozpin. The emotionless eyes that were on her face. The way she spoke. It wasn't the Ruby that Blake had become friends with, and she wanted to know what Cinder did that caused Ruby to be like that.

The three teammates headed out the door and started to head towards the funeral. Despite the fact that only the students of Beacon were invited to the funeral the streets were still so empty. All the people of Vale at least knew Ozpin's name. Which means that when they had heard of his death they knew that it was a day to stay inside and mourn at the loss of one of Vale's heroes. The silent streets didn't help the mood of the team. They weren't used to the silence in Vale.

"This is too quiet, even for me," Blake said used to being surrounded by the silence due to her background. The team looked around not finding a single person until they got to the square where they found Ren and Nora who were now happily married walking to the funeral as well. Everyone was sure that it was the first time that anyone had seen Nora without a smile. This also didn't exactly boost the spirits of the team of huntresses. Ren turned to see them and stopped Nora as they waved to them.

"Hey Ren, how are you?" Yang asked. Ren looked at Yang and answered her question, "To be honest I have been better," he said. Everyone muttered in their agreement about the situation. "I'm sorry we couldn't stop my sister in time," Yang said somberly. Ren held his hand up and spoke, "It's fine, it isn't your fault that Ruby did these things." Blake was the next to speak as she walked forward, "I promise we will find her Ren, and stop her before she hurts anyone else." Ren nodded at Blake and simply said, "I know." 

The group went on their way to the funeral together. They talked all the way there, only stopping when they finally arrived. Everyone's heart dropped immediately hjowever when they saw her standing there. Phyrra was there, and had obviously been crying all throughout the night. She had come along with her two children, one who was seven name Kyle and a young girl named Angel who had just turned five. They both understood that there dad was dead which only made the three huntresses feel worse. 

Blake approached Phyrra and looked up at her as Phyrra looked at Blake and gave her a smile. "Hello Blake," Phyrra said. "Hello Phyrra," Blake replied obviously said that she wasn't able to save Jaune. Phyrra put a hand on Blake's shoulder causing Blake to flinch at the contact. Phyrra smiled at her, "I know you tried your best to get to Jaune in time and I thank you for that." Blake nodded and remained silent as tears started to well up in her eyes. 

"Don't cry Blake, you didn't do anything wrong," Phyrra said trying to get Blake not to cry. Blake looked at her, "How am I suppose to not cry at this? I failed you as a friend, I failed to protect Jaune, and I failed to stop Ruby despite my suspicion that she was up to something. " Phyrra looked at her and scratched behind her ears causing Blake's head to snap up again and make her purr despite the circumstances. 

"That isn't true Blake, I know that you tried to do everything you could, it wasn't your fault that you ran out of time," she said calmly. "I spent enough time crying last night over the situation, so you don't need to, now do me a favor and just bring Ruby to justice so she can't do this again," Phyrra said trying not to cry herself. Blake nodded and hugged Phyrra surprising her. Phyrra returned the hug after recovering from the surprise. "I promise that I will stop Ruby somehow," Blake promised. Phyrra smiled, "Thank you Blake," was all she said. 

Blake finally separated the hug after awhile and headed back to her team as both of the now three man teams headed into the funeral to take their seats. They sat down and looked up. There was two caskets that were being prepared to be sent into the ground. The two pictures of the people that were in them were on top of the caskets. Ozpin on the right and Jaune on the left. A man walked in front of the crowd and stepped up to the podium. 

"Friends, today we gather here to mourn the loss of two great men at the betrayal of one of our greatest warriors, Ruby Rose," Blake almost cringed hearing her name mentioned. "These two warriors tried to stop her before she could return to her people, but she was too much for them to handle. She killed Jaune Arc," now receiving a cringe from Phyrra, "And followed up with Ozpin." 

The speech went on for about another ten minutes before they asked for the people to come up and say a few words. "Of course Phyrra was the first to go up. "Jaune was my husband and the father of our two children. I trained Jaune with his sword while we were at Beacon together. Once we unlocked his aura however he was even greater than me with a blade. Jaune was easily one of the nicest and greatest people I knew, but unfortunately he was betrayed by one of our greatest friends," Phyrra said. She finished her speech and went back to her chair 

The speeches went on and eventually the two caskets were put into the ground. Everyone left to go back to their homes. Team RWBY and JNPR both walked together talking about their days at Beacon trying to lighten up the mood. However, only problem was, Ruby was brought up in most of the memories because she was in each and everyone of them. Eventually team JNPR were all back at their homes and team RWBY went back to their combined home. 

They all changed into their combat clothes and packed ammunition and supplies to go on a hunt. They prepared to leave and just as they opened the door to leave Ren and Nora were there in their own combat clothes with their weapons at the ready. "I was going to ring the doorbell, but I see you are all getting ready to leave," Ren said. Yang nodded and smiled at them, "We are going to stop my sister, want to come along?" Yang asked. They both nodded and the five friends began to head out in search of Ruby. 

"We know the airship headed in this direction, and this leads to the same place we found Ruby, so maybe the base is close to that location?" Blake theorized. Everyone nodded thinking it obviously made enough sense. They headed out of Vale and headed in the direction that team RWBY had returned from as they left to find Ruby and the White Fang base. 

\--------------------

Ruby let out another scream of ecstasy thanks to Cinder and began panting. "I think I am finished Cinder, I'm exhausted," she giggled and smiled at Cinder. Cinder smiled down at Ruby's naked figure and proceeded to lay on the bed next to her completely naked as well. "You deserve so much more though for defeating Ozpin," Cinder said. "Well I'm not going anywhere for awhile, so maybe we could continue this tomorrow," Ruby winked getting an excited smile from Cinder. 

The two kissed each other, and the kiss quickly turned into a battle of dominance which Cinder easily won due to Ruby's exhaustion. "You have definitely earned a vacation from the field," Cinder said as she wrapped her arms around Ruby. Ruby smiled and nodded her head as she proceeded to kiss Cinder's neck sensually causing soft moans to escape from Cinder's lips. "Keep that up and I am going to think your not as tired as you said you were." Ruby giggled yet again and smiled, "I may have exaggerated a little," Ruby said.

"I don't like being tricked Ruby, you should know that by now," Cinder smiled maliciously. Ruby rolled over onto her stomach and arched her back moving her lower body into the air. "How bout you show me how much you dislike it then?" Ruby taunted. Cinder fell for the taunt as she brought her hand down on Ruby's rear causing a smack to echo through the room and make Ruby moan loudly. "I love you Cinder," she turned behind her to say. "I love you too my precious jewel," Cinder said kissing Ruby again while continuing to spank her. The two knew however that they wouldn't be able to enjoy the silence for long, after all they had just killed Ozpin. There was going to be a fight soon, and the two knew it.


	7. The Forest Hunt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blake, Weiss, Yang, Ren, and Nora all continue their search for Ruby to put an end to her before it is too late to stop her. However, it might already be too late.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took so long, I have been having a bit of writer's block. Anyway, the next few chapters are going to be switching quite a few times between the former team RWBY members with Ren and Nora, Ruby with Cinder, and the people of Vale since Ozpin's death. Also I have decided to make the Return not just one story but somewhere between three to five stories. Without further ado, enjoy.

Pyrrha walked into Ozpin's old office where Ironwood, and Glynda both stood with rather unhappy looks on their face. "What seems to be the problem?" Pyrrha asked having been called to the meeting. Ironwood and Goodwitch both remained silent for a few more moments, mourning the loss of their good friend Ozpin. Ironwood turned and took a few steps so he was standing directly in front of the window. 

"Mrs. Nikos, I'm glad you could make it on such short notice. Frankly the circumstances aren't good for any of us. Ruby comes back from being dead for ten years and the first thing she does is kill Ozpin, which surprised us all to hear that a fallen huntress who didn't even finish her time at Beacon was able to beat someone such as Ozpin," Ironwood said. Pyrrha looked down in pain at the memories that came into her mind from the funeral just two days ago. 

Jaune was all she had been able to think about for the past few days. To hear that he had died and that one of their old friends was his murderer caused her to almost breakdown. "That doesn't answer why I am here sir," Pyrrha said. Ironwood chuckled a bit and turned to face Pyrrha. "You're right, it doesn't. You see since Ozpin is dead, we require a new headmaster for Beacon and a leader for Vale." He said.

Pyrrha looked to Glynda before speaking. "Why can't Mrs. Goodwitch do it?" Pyrrha asked more curiously then anything. "I can't do it, I have my own work as a huntress working to stop the White Fang and now Ruby before it's too late and I also still have to teach the dueling class," Glynda explained. 

"So will you be the new headmaster of Beacon Mrs. Nikos?" Ironwood asked. Pyrrha looked down at the floor thinking about her response for a few moments. She was being asked to practically lead Beacon and oversee the training of new huntsmen and huntresses. No matter her answer it would still impact Vale to an nth degree. If she said yes her life would change immensely. She would be the leader of Vale, a symbol for the people to look up to. If she said no, someone else would be put in charge and Beacon would still change. 

Pyrrha clenched her fist before she looked back up, a new fire in her eyes. "I'll do it," she said knowing that her whole life was about to change. 

\--------------------

Blake was the first to wake up. It wasn't because she woke up peacefully or happily. She heard something in the woods around them. The sound of a tree branch being snapped. Something or someone was trying to sneak up on their camp. 

She made her way to Yang's sleeping bag and nudge her roughly because it was almost impossible to wake Yang up otherwise. "What?" Yang said still more asleep than awake. Blake looked her dead in the eyes, as best she could as Yang tried to close them again. "I heard something in the woods, something is heading this way!" Blake said which caused Yang's eyes to open up immediately. They grabbed their weapons and proceeded to wake up Weiss, Ren and Nora. 

Just as they were waking up Nora a beowolf charged into the camp. However instead of doing what everyone was expecting, it kept running. Everyone watched in confusion as the beowolf that caused everyone to wake up just charged into their camp and continued to run. However everyone's eyes went wide as they heard the ll too familiar bang of a sniper rifle being shot and the beowolf falling to the ground dead. 

They all turned around in the direction the bullet came from and saw a thing of rose petals falling slowly to the ground where Ruby had obviously been standing. "Did you all come out here to find little ole me?" Ruby asked with a hint of amusement in her voice. Blake was the first to speak. "We came here to make sure you don't hurt another person!" She exclaimed. "Ruby this isn't like you, just drop Crescent Rose and surrender." Ren said. 

Ruby laughed hysterically in response. "Surrender? Ren think about that for a second. I just killed Ozpin. If I surrender all that would await me would be an execution, I think I'l take my chances being a wanted criminal."

At that moment another round was shot in Ren's direction. However he easily dodged and shot his own weapons in the direction the round came from. Ruby jumped from the trees and landed right in the middle of the group smiling. Everyone's eyes went wide as they tried to jump out of the way. Ruby took Crescent Rose in it's scythe form and spun in a circle. The most damage she caused was a small cut to Nora's side while everyone else was able to get out of the way in time.

"Ow! That wasn't nice!" Nora said angrily taking Magnhild in it's hammer form and smacking Ruby across the face into a tree. Ruby sat there dazed for a few moments from just being hit across the face with a sledgehammer. However before anyone else was able to get a hit on her she stood up and ran out of the way of Yang punching the tree and causing it to fall over in one punch. 

"Wow sis, you have gotten much stronger!" Ruby said excited by the fight now. However as she looked around she immediately knew just what she had gotten herself into. It was five people who knew her better than anyone against her. She sighed and then started to laugh as she prepared for another charge. "This is starting to get fun!" Ruby said as she let her once emotion filled, carefree eyes become the emotionless, analytic ones she now used to fight. 

She fired a round rushing forward only being stopped as a fireball hit the ground right in front of her. "This is why I told you to just let the beowolf go Ruby," Cinder said. Ruby sighed and jumped onto the tree branch that Cinder was standing on. "I know, you can punish me later." Cinder laughed a bit and smiled, "Don't tempt me right now little rose." 

Blake, not enjoying the fact that they were being ignored turned Gambol Shroud to it's pistol form and fired as many rounds as she could at both Cinder and Ruby. Cinder pushed Ruby behind her as her eyes lit up and she blocked the bullets easily with her semblance. She then formed her bow and fired three arrows. The five team members were knocked back as the arrows hit the ground and exploded making enough of a smoke screen for Cinder and Ruby to escape. 

"Damn, they got away!" Yang said angrily. "We had her and she got away!" Yang eyes turned red from her anger and frustration. However Blake grabbed her shoulder, "It isn't over yet, we'' find them and put an end to all of this." Blake said. Yang nodded as her eyes reverted to their lilac color.

"That isn't the Ruby we know, something isn't right here." Ren said catching Blake a little off guard. "It doesn't matter, she doesn't listen to reason anymore, she needs to be killed," Blake said. "I didn't argue with that, I wouldn't have come along if I didn't want to stop her, but you also need to stop yourself," Ren said causing Blake to turn around with anger. 

:"I need to stop? Whose side are you on Ren?" Blake asked starting to yell. Ren stayed calm as he answered "You are going after Ruby out of revenge for Jaune and Ozpin and you're anger is going to get in your way." Blake only became more furious with this, "She killed our friends Ren, don't tell me that you don't want revenge!" Ren remained quiet for a few moments before answering. "What I am saying Blake is that yes we need to kill her, but not for revenge. We need to kill her to protect the rest of the world."

Blake turned around staying quiet for a few moments. "I need a moment alone," she finally said walking into the forest by herself as she hunted some creature of Grimm to take her anger out on.

\--------------------

"That was too risky Ruby!" Cinder scolded. Ruby pouted and looked up at her with her puppy dog eyes, "I'm sorry Cinder." Cinder sighed and hugged her as Ruby giggled a bit and hugged her back. They returned to their base and got inside before anyone could notice them.

"Mercury? Emerald? Are you two back yet?" Cinder asked to see if Mercury and Emerald had returned from their missions. However there was nothing but silence showing that the two of them were alone yet again. Ruby smiled excitedly. "Are we alone yet again?" Ruby asked teasingly. 

Cinder smirked and grabbed Ruby dragging them to their room. "I believe someone said I could punish them for events that happened earlier today," Cinder said as she opened their door and threw Ruby on the bed closing their door as she stripped down. "I don't remember saying that, but I don't mind." Ruby said as she winked before taking off her own clothing and laid on her stomach arching her back making Cinder bite her bottom lip and smiled.

Ruby and Cinder's moans filled the hallways of the base for hours as they enjoyed their time to again realizing it was almost time to fight.


	8. Chapter 8

"Just a little longer?" Ruby asked still asleep despite having been woken up by Cinder. "No Ruby, you decided to fight them so now we are going to have to do some last minute preperations before they get here," Cinder said beginning to get a bit annoyed at how stubborn Ruby could be. "I apologized for that! You even punished me already for it!" Ruby exclaimed arching her back remembering last night. "It doesn't matter that you apologized; we still need to prepare! Also if I recall correctly, you offered yourself for punishment," Cinder said with a devilish grin as she slowly and softly dragged her nails along the curve that Was made by Ruby arching her back. 

Ruby shivered and her eyes immediately opened as she stood up and turned around to face Cinder. "I'm awake now!" Ruby said causing Cinder to frown teasingly. Ruby looked away refusing to play Cinder's game. Cinder laughed a bit and then stood up planting a kiss on Ruby's forehead. "Let's go little rose, we need to start preparing for a fight," Cinder ordered.

Ruby nodded and they preceded to get changed into fresh clothes. The two then went to the training room found inside their base. The two had planned on training much earlier than they were now. They planned to wake up at about eight o' clock, but instead they woke up after noon from the exhausting night the two had spent. 

They found their way to the training room after a while and prepared their weapons, Cinder with her daggers, Ruby with her scythe. Ruby charged first which Cinder easily dodged and sent a kick to Ruby's stomach. Ruby smiled and released a hand from Crescent Rose and put it on Cinder's foot. She pushed up flipping herself as she kicked Cinder across the jaw causing Cinder to wince. Ruby quickly grabbed her scythe and charged away from Cinder making as much distance as possible.

"That was a dirty trick Ruby," Cinder said smiling; quite proud of the girl in front of her. "I learned from the best!" Ruby said starting to aim Crescent Rose in Cinder's direction. Cinder sighed at Ruby's persistence, and sometimes reliance, on the sniper part of her weapon. Cinder had always been able to stop Ruby's bullets mid flight with her hand. Ruby started shooting, and Cinder noticed they were just rubber training rounds. She blinked not knowing when Ruby changed the rounds, but she brought her hand up and blocked the rounds effectively. 

"You should know by now that those won't have any affect on me." Cinder said. Ruby only smiled and continued to fire round after round. Cinder was beginning to get frustrated until she finally looked down and noticed what Ruby was doing. There was dust all over the floor. Ruby had infused the rubber bullets with dust as a trap. Ruby finally reloaded, and this time when she fired, one of her actual bullets came out of the barrel and headed right for the dust on the ground.

Cinder managed to jump out of the way as the bullet caused the dust to light into a massive flame that died down in about half a minute. "Ruby! Are you insane?" Cinder looked at Ruby a bit nervous. Ruby stuck out her tongue teasingly, "You told me when I first joined you that when we train that I need to do my best to kill you, otherwise it wouldn't be beneficial to me." Cinder only blinked before smiling, happy that Ruby had actually been listening to her. 

Cinder put her two daggers together forming her bow and started to fire arrow after arrow at Ruby. Ruby simply dodged to the side and then charged at Cinder. However they were both knocked on their feet as an explosion shook the whole base. It happened again and again each time shaking the base more and more. Finally they both managed to stand and headed for the front door of the base. "This is why you shouldn't have fought them Ruby," Cinder said annoyed by the constant shaking of the base. "I'm sorry Cinder," Ruby said still teasing Cinder a bit.

\--------------------

Yang and Nora fired round after round at the metal door that they had found. The whole group had their weapons ready just waiting for the door to break open now. However before they could break it open the seals on the door came undone and it started to open. Yang and Nora jumped back to the group waiting. Ruby and Cinder both came out of the now open door with their weapons drawn. Ruby reloaded Crescent Rose as her smiling face turned to her cold, calculating, emotionless face she now used in her fights. 

Seeing Ruby caused Blake to almost cringe from the pain of Ruby's betrayal and the anger Blake felt since Ruby had killed Ozpin. All seven of the people now standing in the forest in front of Cinder's base said nothing for almost five minutes. Finally Ruby was the first to talk and break the silence, "You guys shouldn't have come here, you only put your lives at risk," she said. Ren was the first to respond, "We only want to make sure you don't hurt anyone else. You can come back with us Ruby and we will try to convince the police to let you go as long as you become a huntress again.

Ruby only looked down and laughed as she shook her head before looking Ren dead in the eye. "Ren I already told you, I killed Ozpin. I'm not going to be able to just get away with that. I'll be executed if I do go back. Besides, the ways of the kingdoms are corrupt. They don't care about the people. All the leaders of the kingdoms think about is themselves leaving the rest of us to die. I refuse to work for such a corrupt system; that is why I work with Cinder now. She wants to fix the kingdoms." Ren sighed realizing he wasn't going to be able to make Ruby see reason. Blake stepped forward and spoke next. 

"Ruby, all she wants to do is bring chaos to the world and hurt people. You of all people should know that!" She said. Ruby continued to defend Cinder, "That was what I thought until she explained everything to me! She has been right all along and that is why I fight with her now!" Ruby said starting to get frustrated with everyone in front of her. "If you join us then you'll learn what I mean when I say that Cinder only wants what is best for Remnant," Ruby said. "I refuse to work with a murderer," Blake said as she drew Gambol Shroud.

Cinder sent a jet of fire towards Blake which Blake easily dodged to the side. However Ruby charged at full speed kneeing Blake in the chin knocking her on her back. Ruby took her scythe and drove it down at Blake's chest. However Weiss used one of her glyphs to pull Blake back just in time. "Blake, you already know that we can't reason with Ruby at this point," Weiss said. Blake stood up and nodded her head, "I know, but I just wanted to try one last time." 

"Well it didn't work, so what do we do now?" Weiss asked waiting for Blake to give the order as she prepared another glyph. Blake smirked a bit at Weiss's eagerness. "We fight." she said and then charged toward Ruby with everyone else behind her, ready to fight both Ruby and Cinder for hopefully the last time.


	9. The Forest Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fight between Ruby and her former friends finally takes place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have prepared myself to take a lot of heat and punishment for what I have done, and all I would like to say is I apologize. When you guys read this you will know what I mean. Any questions or concerns contact me at kik @speedrhino.

Blake was the first to reach Ruby as the rest of her team came in behind her. She swung in a downward slash at Ruby's head. She smiled and simply back-flipped out of the way; bringing her foot into Blake's chin causing Blake to hiss in pain as she was stunned from the kick. Ruby seeing the chance to put an end to one of her current enemies aimed Crescent Rose at Blake. She pulled the trigger firing directly for Blake's chest, but at the same time Ren jumped in front of Blake and blocked the bullet with StormFlower.

"Are you okay Blake?" Ren asked. Blake had finally recovered from the kick and responded, "Yes." Ren stayed in front of Blake staring down Ruby waiting for her to make a move. Ruby was doing the exact same as well. They continued to watch each other until a jet of flame headed right for Blake and Ren. Both Blake and Ren dodged the attack and launched another attack at Ren.

"Yang, Weiss, Nora, deal with Cinder please!" Blake ordered as she started charging at Ruby again. The three of them charged at Cinder who easily dodged all three of them. Ren and Blake had reached Ruby who continued to dodge and flip avoiding both of there attacks. The only time she ever swung Crescent Rose was to counter either of their attacks at certain times.Eventually she ran into the forest with Blake and Ren right behind her.

Cinder smiled seeing what Ruby was trying to accomplish. Yang sent another round towards Cinder from Ember Celica which Cinder easily blocked. She found blocking Yang's shots easier than Ruby's because of the velocity of the rounds. However the fact they made rather large fireballs when she blocked them started to annoy her. She took her daggers and formed them into her bow firing an arrow at Weiss.

Weiss easily blocked the attack with one of her glyphs, but Cinder rushed towards her. Weiss was caught off guard as Cinder's foot ended up hitting her in the stomach. Weiss gasped in pain as she was knocked backwards a bit. Cinder took her bow and started aiming an arrow at Weiss who was still on the ground. However she was forced to move back as Nora slammed the ground she was just standing in with Magnhild. 

She fired the arrow at Nora which Nora jumped to the side avoiding the explosion that took place from the arrow hitting the ground. Cinder broke her bow back down into the two daggers as Yang charged at her. She moved to the side and swung with both of her daggers in a cross slice at Yang's side. Yang winced as she felt the blade's cut her across the left hip. She tried to punch Cinder in the stomach, but Cinder stepped to the side dodging it and kicked Yang away.

"You shouldn't have come her, you're going to find I am a lot harder to kill then you originally thought." Cinder said, taunting the three huntresses. Yang smiled as she looked at Cinder. "We aren't trying to kill you," was all she said. Cinder's eyes went wide as she realized that Blake and Ren had wanted to get Ruby alone. She tried to leave the area to get to Ruby, but as she tried to get away, Nora slammed Magnhild into her head, almost breaking her neck as she was launched to the side. 

Cinder who was now dazed and in pain stood up and held her daggers in front of her. She noticed that the whole world seemed to be spinning and she was seeing three of Nora. Yang charged at her and tried to punch her again. Cinder clumsily blocked the strike and sliced at Yang which Yang easily dodged. "What was that about you being hard to kill?" Yang asked mockingly. Cinder smiled and with a great amount of effort released a circle of fire from her body at the surrounding area. 

The surrounding area was lit on fire as Cinder's attack was released. The three team members easily dodged the attack, but when they looked around for her, Cinder was already gone. "Damn, she's heading for Blake!" Yang said as she got ready to head in the direction that Blake had. "That's obvious Yang," Weiss said as she and Nora followed behind Yang through the forest. 

\--------------------

Ruby dodged another attack from Blake as she jumped from one tree branch to another. She had gotten used to using the trees as her weapon in her time with Cinder. "What's wrong Blake? Having a hard time keeping up?" Ruby taunted. Blake fell for the taunt as she launched another assault on Ruby which was easily dodged. Ruby then low kicked at Blake's legs knocking her off her feet. Blake was caught off guard as she started falling out of the tree. "I thought you were going to be the one to kill me." Ruby said, continuing her taunting towards Blake. 

"Don't be so quick to assume victory Ruby," Ren said calmly as he attacked from above, bringing StormFlower's blade portion down towards Ruby's head. Ruby was surprised, but not defenseless from the attack. She used the Scythe form of Crescent Rose to narrowly block Ren's attack. However Ren's eyes went wide as he saw he was looking right down the barrel of Crescent Rose's sniper aspect. However right before Ruby pulled the trigger Blake wrapped Gambol Shroud around Ruby's leg with the rope connected to it and pulled her out of the tree causing her to fall. 

She gasped as she hit the ground hard. She was convinced that a rib had been broken in the fall. She used her aura to heal the broken bone. Ren jumped from the tree and attempted to stab Ruby as she laid on the ground. Ruby's injuries from the fall were all healed now though and she rolled out of the way as Ren hit the ground that Ruby had just been laying at. Ruby stood up and swung her scythe directly at Ren. 

Blake got in the way of the attack however and blocked the attack easily with her own Blade. "Looks like were even," Blake said smiling back at Ren. Ren smiled back and nodded his response. Ren aimed StormFlower at Ruby and started firing. Ruby spun Crescent Rose around in a circle blocking the bullets as they reached her. Timing her own shot as she spun her scythe, she finally pulled the trigger as it faced to her left side so she was thrown the the left.

She charged at Blake with Crescent Rose in hand and she made an upward slice trying to get Blake's stomach. Blake jumped out of the way of the attack and Ren kicked Ruby across the jaw. However with Ruby's growing frustration she quickly retaliated as she slammed her own fist into Ren's nose, using her aura to strengthen her attack. It connected and Ren's nose was obviously broken as blood started to flow down from it. He sent another kick at Ruby's knee which Ruby easily grabbed and used to cartwheel herself up as she brought her foot into Ren's jaw.

Blake charged in to help Ren which Ruby proceeded to spin so she could bring her foot into the side of Ren's head first which knocked him over while Ruby used the momentum to kick Blake in the side of her head as well. She got to the ground and grabbed Crescent Rose as she spun it around preparing to drive it through Ren's stomach. She screamed out however as a bullet went directly through her hand. She fired her own weapon at Blake who had just shot her and Blake screamed out as she felt the round go directly through her shoulder. 

Her arm fell limp at her side as she couldn't feel it anymore. "You shouldn't have done that Blake," Ruby said obviously angered at the pain she was now feeling in her right hand. She let her aura close the wound, but it was obviously going to scar a bit. She walked towards Blake as Ren was obviously still a bit stunned from the small fist fight that he had with Ruby. She was no standing over Blake with the scythe in hand. She fired yet another round into Blake's right leg causing Blake to scream in pain as blood started to flow from the two open wounds. Ruby aimed at her left leg next.

However she didn't pull the trigger as she was surprised from an arrow flying right by her hear, and the sound of Ren grunting. "Ren!" Blake screamed out. Ruby turned around as he had hit a knee behind her as his plan to kill Ruby while she was looking had failed from an arrow piercing his chest. "Kill him Ruby! Before the rest of their team shows up!" Cinder ordered as she stepped out from behind the trees. She had blood coming down from the top of her head where she had been hit by Magnhild. Ruby nodded and walked towards Ren.

"Don't do it Ruby! I'm begging you! Kill me instead!" Blake begged not wanting to see another one of her friends die. "You're next Blake," Ruby said still slightly angry about the bullet that Blake had shot her hand with. It was at that time that Ruby swung her scythe down in a fast movement, completely removing Ren's head. Blake's eyes went wide, and then all she coud hear was Nora's screams of anguish as she rushed out from the forest with Magnhild in it's hammer form, ready to kill Ruby.

Ruby dodged to the side as Nora slammed the ground where Ruby had once been standing. In it's place was now a crater from the impact. Ruby swung her scythe and sliced Nora's leg, but Nora was pumping adrenaline and didn't feel her now bleeding leg. Ruby narrowly dodged the assault that Nora sent towards her head which would have easily taken her head clean off. She continued to try and destroy Ruby with Magnhild infuriated at Ren's death.

"Blake!" Yang screamed out as Blake had crawled to a nearby tree with her still two working limbs. Yang and Weiss got to Blake and both took a knee at one of her sides. "You okay?" Weiss asked concerned. "Weiss, I got shot at point blank range with Crescent Rose, trust me when I say I am not okay. The only reason I am alive is because I pissed her off so badly that she just wants to make me suffer at this point," Blake said. The three of them watched Nora make more and more craters just to kill Ruby. "Man she is pissed," Yang said. Blake frowned a bit as she responded, "Not sure if you saw Yang, but Ruby killed Ren, the one person Nora loved more than pancakes," Blake said making a joke.

Yang laughed a bit but looked down saddended at Ren's death. "We saw. The three of us were almost here when we saw Ruby decapitate him." Blake had tears starting to form in her eyes as she looked at Ren's body. "Damn it all! We came here so she wouldn't hurt another person and yet she is still killing people!" Blake said tears starting to roll down her face at her friend's death.

Meanwhile as Yang watched Ruby and Nora it became obvious that if Nora wasn't using her adrenaline like she was, then this fight would have been finished long ago. Nora was now breathing heavily and was had many open wound that were pouring blood. "Nora! Get out of there!" Blake screamed out. Nora was too enraged though from Ren's death and took another swing. She screamed out as Cinder came from above and removed her arms with her daggers and stabbed Nora through the chest.

Cinder took her blades out of Nora's chest and Nora fell back. Nora was dead, and there was no denying it. Blake's eyes went wide and she almost let her anger take over, but she couldn't move. Yang fired two shots at Ruby and Cinder forcing them back. "Yang! Wait!" Blake yelled after her. Yang grabbed Ren and Nora's bodies and rushed back as Weiss helped Blake up. The three of them escaped with their fallen comrades.

"I'll stop them!" Ruby said getting ready to charge at them. Cinder grabbed the back of her hood and shook her head. "Let them leave, they aren't a threat right now. The most they can do is reveal this base and by that point we will be long gone," Cinder said as she let go of Ruby and headed to their base. 

Cinder pulled out her scroll and started to send a call to Emerald. When Emerald picked up Cinder started to explain the situation. "Our base was discovered, we are moving to the secondary base location, do not return to the old one. Don't worry about the plan, Ruby will still do what we need her to do," Cinder said. That caught Ruby's attention and she raised an eyebrow. 

Cinder finished her conversation with Emerald and put her scroll away. "So what am I doing exactly?" Ruby asked. Cinder laughed a bit before turning to face her. "You're going to Atlas to say hi to an old friend for me," Cinder said with a smirk. "Who exactly?" Ruby asked still curious. "James Ironwood," was all Cinder said as she turned around and started walking to the base again. "Oh," was all Ruby said as she followed behind.

\--------------------

"Stop for a second please," Blake ordered. Yang and Weiss both stopped and but Blake down. Noone said anything for what felt like hours. Yang was the first one to speak breaking the silence. "What's going to happen now?" She asked. 

"We are going to tell whoever we can about that base. They are going to have left by that point but we can still see what we can find." Blake explained. Everyone nodded and they remained quiet again as Blake looked over at her Ren and Nora's bodies. Tears started to roll down her cheeks as she looked at her dead friends. 

"How could this have happened! Everything was going so well!" Blake sobbed as she spoke. Weiss replied rather coldly, "No plan ever survives contact with the enemy. We learned that lesson when we were in Beacon." Blake nodded knowing that Weiss was right. She held up her arm that hadn't been shot requesting help.

Weiss helped her up as Yang was holding their two fallen comrades and they started off on their way towards Vale yet again. Blake gave one final glance back before speaking again, "I'll kill her the next time I see her." Yang replied this time, "Get in line Blake, I will kill whatever that thing is that is posing as my sister." The rest of the trip went on in silence as everyone realized that Cinder's plans were far from finished. 

"I'm going to head to Atlas to make sure Ruby doesn't cause any problems their the moment my limbs can move again," Blake said. The other two hearing this were caught off guard, but relized what Blake meant. "I guess I'll head to Vacuo then," Yang said. "After all we need to protect all three kingdoms," she said. Weiss nodded her head, "I guess that leaves me with Mistral," Weiss said. "Then it's decided, I guess it will be a long time before we see each other again,"Blake said.

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement. "Let's make sure we see each other again though, that way we can all have a drink together back in Vale," Yang said trying to help lift everyone's spirits. Everyone smiled and laughed a bit as they made jokes all the way back to Vale, even though everyone was still said at Ren's lost.

\--------------------

"Hello?" Roman said answering his scroll at almost two in the morning. "Hello Roman, I am going to require your assistance," Cinder's voice replied from the other end. Hearing her speak caused Roman to shiver everytime, but he was more afraid of what she would do to him then anything else. "Assistance with what?" He asked. "I plan to said a rose to Ironwood's doorstep," Cinder explained. 

Roman realized what she meant almost immediately. "You're sending Red to Atlas? Wouldn't Emerald, or Mercury be better, they know the lay of the land their at least." Roman regretted what he said almost immediately. "Are you questioning my decision Roman?" Cinder asked with a hint of calm anger in her voice. "No ma'am, what time shall I pick her up?" 

"Be at the secondary base by noon tomorrow, I'll explain the rest there," Cinder said as she hung up. Roman put his scroll down and sat up. "I hope Red knows what she's doing," Roman said lighting a cigar. He finished smoking the cigar after awhile and laid back down. "I guess this means were in phase four of the plan," he said before finally going back to sleep.


	10. Plans for the Future

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone makes their plans for the future

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the lat chapter for this part of the Return. However I do plan on making four more stories for it. one for each kingdom and then the finale. I hope you all enjoy it as much as you did this.

It was eight in the evening the day of the fight. Yang had delivered Ren and Nora's bodies to Pyrrha who cried over them as much as she did Jaune. Two of her greatest friends along with her husband were now dead because of Ruby. However Pyrrha explained to Yang that she couldn't leave Vale since she was the new head of Beacon. Yang understood completely and then started with her request.

"Pyrrha, I have something I need to ask," Yang said. Pyrrha nodded her head and remained quiet waiting to hear what Yang had to say. "Ruby is my sister, so seeing her do this makes me want to kill her more than anyone else. Weiss, Blake and I on our way back realized that she isn't going to just stop with Ozpin," she started, however Pyrrha finished for her. "You want to go to the other kingdoms and protect the other leaders don't you?" Pyrrha asked. 

Yang remained quiet and nodded her head. "I am going to go to Vacuo. Blake wants to go to Atlas, and Weiss is going to Mistral," she explained. Pyrrha remained quiet for a few moments. She sat down at her desk and turned the chair so she was looking out the window. "Ren and Nora were some of greatest friends, just like you, Blake, and Weiss. I have lost too many people because of Ruby, so before I send you and your teammates off to the other kingdoms you need to promise me something. Promise me that you won't let Ruby hurt another person and that you have the resolve to actually kill her," Pyrrha said.

"I promise that Ruby won't hurt anyone else," Yang assured Pyrrha. Pyrrha knew she was asking for a lot and that even with that promise more people were going to die. She wasn't worried about the people though. She was worried about Yang. Yang was in here talking about how she was going to kill her sister. Pyrrha never had a sister, but she knew if she did it would be incredibly hard to kill her. She wanted to make sure that Yang was actually going to be able to kill Ruby.

"Then you have my permission to do whatever it takes to kill Ruby. I will not tell you what to do or where to go, that is all up to you. I assume you understand that the three of you won't be able to communicate for a long time?" Pyrrha asked. Yang nodded assuring Pyrrha she understood that. "We live in hard times because of the White Fang. Don't let Ruby make them any worse. You may leave whenever you are ready," Pyrrha said.

Yang turned to leave the room and head towards the hospital where Blake was being treated for the two bullet wound she had received. "Also Yang one more thing," Pyrrha stopped Yang before she was able to leave. "Actually two more things. First, how did they die?" Pyrrha asked wanting to know Ren and Nora's fate. 

Yang turned around to face her. "Ren died buying time for us to save Blake. He died a hero as Ruby finally ended the fight. Nora died trying to avenge Ren, but she was too angry in a fight that required her to be calm. Either way they both died as my friends, and I will avenge them if I see Ruby again," Yang said tears starting to form in her eyes as she remembered what happened in the fight. 

"Now for the last thing, and I think you will find this interesting," Pyrrha said as she opened a drawer in the desk that once belonged to Ozpin. From that drawer she pulled out a small notebook. She walked over to Yang and handed it to her. "I read through this to see if Ozpin had anything interesting in it. I think you will find what he wrote in the last page rather interesting. Yang opened the notebook to the last page. She was surprised by what she had found.

_As of recent date, my suspicions have been more aroused than usual. I believe that Ruby Rose is not dead. Many reports have come to my desk about a small girl wearing red walking around doing odd things around different towns. I would have pushed these away assuming them as a coincidence, however after awhile a report finally came to my desk that gave a full report about her facial features. Apparently she had talked to someone there trying to get information. The man reported a girl with brunette hair with red linings in it, and what sells it to me the most, was that he also reported her having beautiful silver eyes. It is for these reasons that I believes Ruby to be alive. I shall wait to see if if anything else comes up. It could be just a horrible coincidence, but I believe there is something much greater going on. After I have solid evidence that this is indeed Ruby Rose, I shall then send these notes to the members of team RWBY and allow them to investigate._

"He knew Ruby was alive!" Yang said starting to get angry at Ozpin's deception. Ozpin had acted surprised at Ruby's survival. Why would he have lied about it. "He didn't tell you because he knew that your team would run off if it was just a suspicion. He didn't want you to get your hopes destroyed," Pyrrha said as she grabbed another notebook and handed it Yang. "This is everything that Ozpin wrote about the situation. He was going to tell you the day that you returned to Vale, but you had already found Ruby alive.

Yang remained quiet and simply nodded. Pyrrha hugged Yang in a friendly embrace. "You promise me that you, Blake, and Weiss are all going to come back. I've lost too many friends Yang," Pyrrha said as she started to cry herself. Yang hugged her back calming down. "I promise. The day we come back we are going to grab a drink together too," Yang said. Pyrrha laughed a bit before responding, "Most definitely."

Yang left Beacon with the two notebooks in her hands as she started to head towards the hospital to check on Blake. "I'm coming Blake, sorry that took me so long."

\--------------------

Blake and Weiss were in the same room together. Weiss was holding Blake's new arm in her hand. She had spent about an hour crying nonstop. Ruby's bullets had completely severed Blake's nerves in her arm and leg. They had to give her brand new ones. They looked exactly the same and practically felt the same. However to Blake and Weiss, they were never going to be the same. Just more scars that they had received from a life of fighting. 

"I'm so sorry Blake," Weiss said still a bit choked up from crying. Blake smiled up at Weiss before speaking. "You have nothing to apologize for Weiss. I'm still alive, and I can still fight. Even better is that they say I can leave tomorrow morning if I want and I should be fine. Weiss nodded, and the two remained their in silence until Blake heard Weiss mutter something. 

"Did you say something Weiss?" Blake asked. Weiss looked up blushing a bit and this time said it louder so Blake could hear what she wanted to say. "I said that since this is the only time I am going to get to see you for a long time, I need to say this. Blake Belladona, I love you," Weiss said as her face got even redder. Blake blinked a couple of times caught off guard. Here was a one of the Schnee family saying that she loved a faunus and former White Fang member.

The room remained quiet for what felt like hours as Blake sat up and kissed Weiss's cheek. Weiss eyes went wide as she looked at Blake who was smiling at her. "I love you too Weiss," Blake said. Weiss almost started crying again as she threw herself around Blake kissed her. However at this time the door was thrown open as a cheerful voice started coming through. 

"Hello!" Yang said pausing as she walked in on Weiss and Blake. Yang smiled mischievously at the two of them, "Did I interrupt something?" Yang asked. Blake and Weiss only blushed and remained quiet. Yang pulled up a chair at Blake's unoccupied side. 

"Pyrrha has given us permission to head out to the other kingdoms to make sure that Ruby doesn't hurt anyone else. She also said we had free reign over this mission and that no one is going to give us orders," Yang explained. Blake nodded her understanding. "This is going to be the last time we see each other for a long time. We can still call each other though," Blake said trying to lift everyone's spirits. 

They continued to talk about what they were going to do immediately after making it to the kingdom that each one of them wanted to go to. Yang finally broke the current conversation as she pulled out a little box. "Me and Ruby got these when Ruby was still with us. She never got her's and I never gave them to the team because I didn't want to give them away without all of us being there," Yang said as she opened the box.

Inside there were four bracelets that were all their respective colors that had the words, "The Best," inscribed on them. "Ruby had them made to show that we were always going to be good friends," Yang said as she took her bracelet out of the box and put it on. Blake and Weiss took theirs as well putting them on. 

Blake was the next one to speak. "It's getting late guys. Tomorrow at about ten in the morning let's agree to meet at the airship yard at Beacon so we can all start heading out to the different kingdoms," Blake said. Everyone gave their agreement and Yang left first to go to her apartment. Weiss kissed Blake one last time before going to her house to sleep and pack. Blake was all alone finally.

A tear streamed down Blake's face as she looked at the bracelet. "Ruby, if only you could come back," she said before finally falling asleep.

\--------------------

It was now eight in the morning when Ruby woke up next to Cinder. She smiled happily as she kissed Cinder's cheek. Cinder woke up slowly from the contact. "One of these day's you have to teach me how you do that," Ruby said with a wink. "It's just practice my little rose. What time is it anyway?" Cinder asked.

"It's about five past eight now," Ruby said. Cinder slowly rose out of bed and grabbed one of her dresses. The new base wasn't quite as luxurious as the old one, but Cinder didn't mind. It got the job done. After Cinder was fully dressed she turned to find Ruby lying in bed admiring her body. "Get up Ruby, we need to get some work done before you leave today," Cinder said. Ruby's eyes went wide as she heard what Cinder said. "I'm leaving today?" Ruby asked a bit surprised.

Cinder nodded her head as the only confirmation that Ruby was going to get. Ruby finally got out of bed and went to grab her own clothes before Cinder grabbed her by the hand. She kissed Ruby and then dragged her to the nearest bathroom. Once they were there Cinder had Ruby shower as she got a few things ready. When Ruby was done and she had dried herself off Cinder had pulled up a chair. 

"Roman will be here at about noon. We need to have to you ready to go before he gets here," Cinder said as she got some blonde hair dye. Ruby sat down in the chair and Cinder preceded to dye Ruby's hair. She then got out some colored contacts and gave them to Ruby. Ruby sighed but put the contacts in. She hated wearing contacts even though Cinder made her practice in case she needed a quick disguise. Her eyes had gone from silver to being Blue.

"Frankly I like you better without the disguise, but it works for now. You can bring your combat clothes with you, however before going after Ironwood just pretend that you are a citizen there. Don't draw any attention to yourself," Cinder told her. Ruby nodded her understanding. It was now nine thirty and they started packing Ruby's bags. She was wearing a basic brown t-shirt and some jeans. 

Once the bags were packed Cinder sat down on the bed and sighed. Ruby sat down in Cinder's lap straddling her as she kissed her softly. "I'm going to miss you Cinder," Ruby said. Cinder sighed again and kissed Ruby back. "I'll miss you too Ruby. Make sure you come back to me though," Cinder said. Ruby giggled and nodded, "Of course I will." 

"Also one more thing. You're name is not Ruby Rose while you are there. It's Mira Stride. Got it?" Cinder asked. Ruby nodded. "My name is Mira Stride while I'm in Atlas," Ruby repeated. Cinder nodded and had Ruby get off of her. She left the room only to come back with a passport and other means of identification along with a wallet. "You have all the money you need in here, Just don't get caught in Atlas, is that clear?" Cinder asked making sure Ruby got the point not to get caught. Ruby nodded again.

The two of them spent the rest of the morning together talking and just enjoying everyone's company. However exactly at twelve the sound of an airship landing near the base could be clearly heard. Cinder stood up and held Ruby up. Cinder gave Ruby one last kiss and Ruby smiled. She grabbed her bags and preceded to head to the airship. Cinder followed behind. 

Roman was waiting outside the ship as Ruby got in putting her bags in the bag where she could fasten them so they were secured. Cinder grabbed Roman and pulled him so they were out of hearing range. "She knows that you are dropping her off five miles from Atlas. You make sure that when she get's dropped off that she isn't killed by Grimm right after landing is that clear?" Cinder asked rather threateningly. Roman nodded his understanding. Cinder let him go and he got in the cockpit again and started flying the ship towards Atlas. "Everything is going according to plan," Cinder said turning around and smiled.

\--------------------

At ten all of team RWBY met at Beacon's airship pad. "This is it huh?" Yang asked. They exchanged their last words and vowed to return to Vale one day to see each other. Blake's airship headed north of Vale while Yang and Weiss's airship went in two different directions. Blake laid back and closed her eyes, getting ready to take a quick nap as her airship headed to Vale. 

\--------------------

Ruby's airship finally touched down at about two in the afternoon. She grabbed her bags and got off the airship. She started walking towards Atlas humming the whole way there. When she finally reached the main road she started to follow the road to Atlas. 

When she saw the tower within range she started running as fast as she could without using her semblance. She finally reached the main gate were she was stopped by two guards. "Excuse me ma'am, I'm going to need to see some identification," the guard on the left said. Ruby nodded and handed him her passport. "Name's Mira Stride. Nice to meet you sir," Ruby said. 

The guard took the passport and examined it. "It checks out, you are free to pass through Mrs. Stride," Ruby smiled and passed through the front gate and turned around subtly to see the guard examining her body. She smiled a bit knowing that she had another way to manipulate the people of Atlas.

She found the nearest apartment complex that appealed to her and got an apartment for herself. She proceeded to unpack her bags with the drawers she did have already in the apartment and looked around at the otherwise empty apartment. "Guess I'm going to need to buy some furniture," Ruby said. She grabbed her wallet and headed out to furnish her apartment.

\--------------------

Blake's airship finally touched down at about three and she met with Ironwood. "Hello Miss. Belladona, may I ask why you are here?" Ironwood asked. "I'm here to make sure that Ruby doesn't kill anyone here," Blake replied.

"Well then Miss. Belladona, as long as you aren't causing any problems, then by all means enjoy yourself while you are here in Atlas. Also, welcome to Atlas, I hope you're mission is succesful in stopping Ruby," Ironwood said leaving.

Blake took a look at the bracelet on her arm she received from Yang. She then clenched her fist as she remembered Jaune, Ozpin, Ren, and Nora. "Trust me Ironwood, I plan on killing her myself."

 

Part 1: End.


End file.
